Julianne Hough Talks Footloose, Spray Tans, and Ryan Seacrest

Footloose star Julianne Hough actually dances for fun, which when you consider how long she's done it professionally—the former Dancing with the Stars mentor was a ballroom champ before she was even a teenager—is pretty amazing. But before getting down to her refreshing interview, please allow me to embarrass myself for a moment.

See, Ryan Seacrest caught me exiting a men's bathroom. It was the Saturday afternoon we shot Hough, and while she was posing away in a lace halter top and Bottega Veneta pumps, I had popped into the men's room to retrieve paper towels because the ladies' room was out. And just as I'm leaving, Seacrest, in a sharp blue suit walked in the adjacent front door of the building. "Is Julianne Hough here?" he asked, pretending, like a true gentleman, that he couldn't see a urinal in the open doorway behind me. Oddly, my first thought was: "Does Ryan Seacrest really wear TV-ready suits on random Saturday afternoons?" (Turns out he was coming from a small City Hall wedding ceremony.) So yeah, that happened. But Seacrest was nonchalant about it, and just introduced himself (which was obviously unnecessary) and then just kind of hung out, snacked, and talked about television with the crew members before he swept his girlfriend away for a surprise dinner. In conclusion: Cool guy.

And now, what his equally cool girlfriend had to say about dancing, acting, and her spray-tan hiatus:

How often do you dance? "It's tough because there are a lot of other things going on right now—but that's my favorite form of expression and exercise and just pure enjoyment. One of my favorite things is to just be with my sisters and my brother and put on music and just get crazy and dance around&—just us being dorks."

Do you have a non-dance workout routine? "Yeah, I've been doing a lot of Pilates and boxing. And circuit training in Miami [while shooting Rock of Ages]—to get the heart-rate up."

When did you start wearing makeup? "I've been wearing makeup for as long as I can remember. I love makeup. I love hair. It's funny—I'm a tomboy who loves all of those girlie things. I'll be climbing a tree and jumping off a cliff into the water—but I'll have my makeup and hair done."

Is there a particular beauty task that you don't like? "I would say waxing, because it hurts. But it needs to be done. I have been growing my eyebrows out for this movie [Rock of Ages], so they're a little more bushy, which I kind of like."

__Random, but I saw a picture of your mom the other day—she's gorgeous. What did she teach you about beauty? __ "She wore sunscreen all the time. She uses a self-tanner because she stays out of the sun. She actually taught me about shading and color palettes, what's good for your tone. I think she worked at a beauty counter when she was younger."

Speaking of self-tanner, you're on a spray-tan break. "Oh yeah. It's been a long time. I think the last one I had was on Dancing With the Stars, so probably two years ago. Because even before I was on Dancing With the Stars, I was a competitive ballroom dancer in Europe since I was 10 years old. It's nice not to smell. And not to be sticky. It looked like a crime scene in the mornings—there was brown smeared all over the sheets. It's like, 'What just happened in that bed?'"

How was dancing with your Footloose costar Kenny Wormald? "We had so much fun. Dancing is a sexy way of feeling a little bit more promiscuous without actually going there. It was such a great feeling to leave and feel like, Woo! OK! Where's my boyfriend? I need to call him."

Fringe benefits for Ryan Seacrest! Does Seacrest dance? "He does. [Mimes swaying and jazz hands] He does a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

So you're filming movies and working on a country album. Seacrest is on the radio everyday and has Idol hosting duties. How do you find time to hang out? "You know what? When it's this good, you make it work."

He picks you up at shoots. "I know! He's a sweet guy."

How are you balancing music and film?"Again, because I love it so much, I just make it work. Sometimes you're going to focus on one thing more than the other. And I love the challenge of something I've never done before or that I'm nervous about—so I've done a couple movies where I've been able to dance and have my little security blanket with me—but I really want to push myself and do something with no singing or dancing involved. So that I think is my next step."

Do you still know your 2B1G routines?"Yes! We did a song called "Three Little Monkeys" and it was the worst. [Acts it out the choreography] It was hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. It was so terrible! And also, there was a song called "Love You" and it was L-O-V-E [Spells it out with her arms] with the hand gestures—the worst thing in the world that you can do! So yes, I still remember them. [Laughs]"

Do you ever watch those videos? "No! I haven't seen them in a long time."

Some of them are on YouTube. "Are they really?! That's so funny. YouTube, Internet: What are you doing?"